Classic Pecan Pie

I make this pie every year for one of the guys my husband works with. I've been doing this for four years now and will keep on with it. I do make this pie for holiday parties as well, but only when asked...for some reason, not all people LOVE pecan pie the way I do! The nerve! LOL!

Ingredients
1 (9 inch) pie shell
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Prick pastry shell in several places with a fork and bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.

In a large bowl, combine sugar, corn syrup, eggs, vanilla, salt, and pecans. Mix well, then pour into pie shell.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Check after 30 minutes; if crust is getting too brown, cover edges with aluminum foil. When done, pie will be a little loose in center, but will set as it cools; do not overbake.

I put my pies onto a wire rack to help cool the bottom.

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

When I was looking up cookie recipes, this recipe ended up being one of those little pop-ups and it linked to Jif's website for the full recipe! I forgot about these cookies, its been years since I've had them, and I remember now how freaking good they are!!!!

Ingredients
1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk
3/4 cup Jif® Creamy Peanut Butter
2 cups packaged biscuit mix
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup sugar
Hershey Kisses milk chocolate candy pieces, unwrapped

Directions
HEAT oven to 375°F.

BEAT sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter in large bowl until smooth. Add biscuit mix and vanilla; mix well.

SHAPE into 1-inch balls. Roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE 6 to 8 minutes or until lightly browned around edges (do not overbake). Immediately press a chocolate candy piece in center of each cookie. Cool.

Snickerdoodles

Rob LOVES Snickerdoodles, so I thought I'd make some to go with all the other cookies...I mean, why not? I already made something like 300 cookies...what's another 100, right? These are pretty easy to make once you get rolling with them.

Ingredients
1 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Stir in the eggs. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. In a small bowl, stir together the 2 tablespoons of sugar, and the cinnamon. Roll dough into walnut sized balls, then roll the balls in the cinnamon-sugar. Place them onto an unprepared cookie sheet, two inches apart.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be slightly brown. Remove from sheets to cool on wire racks.

Double Fudge Chocolate Chip Cookies!

These cookies are freaking AMAZING, and probably the easiest cookie I have ever made in my entire life! I think this one will become a staple of my household! I was kind of weirded out by the recipe, but was amazed when they were done! I fully recommend these cookies to anyone who is wanting to make a chocolate chocolate chip cookie!!!

Ingredients
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets (or line them with parchment paper).

In your Kitchenaid stand mixer or a medium bowl, stir together the cake mix, eggs and oil until well blended. Fold in the chocolate chips. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Again, I went with 9 minutes for my bake time because I like the chewy cookies! I just can't say it enough how fantastic these cookies are!!!

Sugar Cookies!

Holiday cookie making isn't complete without SUGAR COOKIES!!! These tasty cookies are easy to make and are even yummier when you frost them and add colored sugar...mmm...

Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter (no substitutes)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda

Directions
In a mixing bowl, cream sugar, butter, vanilla and salt. Add eggs and mix well. Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda; add to creamed mixture. Chill until firm, about 1 hour.

On a floured surface, roll dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a 2-1/2-in. cookie cutter; place on greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees F for 7-8 minutes or until light golden brown. Decorate if desired.

I used Betty Crocker white cookie frosting I found in the baking isle at Kroger's, it tastes really good, not overly sweet, but sweet enough to just add to the sugar cookie.

On a side note, here's a picture of what you DON'T want to do with sugar cookies. For some reason I was thinking you could put preserves in sugar cookies...well, it didn't work and it wasn't until they were in the oven that I realized that it is Shortbread cookies you do that with, NOT sugar cookies...Sheesh!

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies

I SWEAR by my Oxo cookie scoop...this thing is a freaking dream! It makes chocolate chip cookie making so much easier! I also swear by using parchment paper when making cookies. Not only do the cookies just slide right off, it also makes for quick and easy clean-up of your cookie sheets!

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 cups butter, softened
3/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
2 eggs
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.

In your Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Slowly blend in the flour mixture. Finally, add in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown. (I usually only do the minimum because I prefer a chewier cookie).

Buffalo Chicken Dip!

I got this recipe from my sister-in-law a couple years ago...this Buffalo chicken dip is absolutely to DIE for! It is a must for parties or family gatherings. I made this batch on Thanksgiving day to take to my mom's house and snack on prior to dinner.

Ingredients

1 can white chicken in water

1 block cream cheese (softened)

1c sour cream

Franks Red Hot Sauce (to taste)

1.5 c shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

In a microwave safe bowl put cream cheese and sour cream and mix well with hand mixer (until no lumps). Add chicken, cheddar cheese and Franks (I usually end up using about 1/4 cup of Franks in mine, I like it spicy). Blend everything together with a spoon and microwave it or place it in a small crock pot on low.

Serve with tortilla chips, crackers, pretzels or anything else that may sound good to you. Beware...this stuff is like CRACK...you will keep going back for more!!!

Cornish Game Hens

I haven't had Cornish hens since I was probably 14 years old. When Rob and I went grocery shopping a couple weeks ago they were on sale so we bought a package of them! I am intimidated a little bit by poultry other than boneless breasts. I was totally clueless how to prepare these babies, but I found directions online and went to work! They were super easy, I was surprised!

Ingredients

2 Cornish Game Hens

Butter

Poultry seasoning

Montreal seasoning

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.

Rub the hens with soft butter (on top of AND under the skin). Season with your chosen spices (I used the ones listed above). Put hens into a roasting pan and put a little water in the bottom. Place in oven and let bake for about 30 minutes, then you will want to start basting the birds (baste every 10-15 minutes). Total baking time is about 1 hour 15 minutes.

Let them stand for few minutes then serve them up.

SIDE NOTE: Use the leftovers to make chicken stew or soup. YUM

Breakfast Scramble

Every now and then I make this delicious breakfast scramble. It is super easy to make, which makes it nice for a busy weekend day when you don't have a lot of time to slave over the stove making a super fancy breakfast!

Ingredients
1lb Regular flavor bulk sausage (I use Jimmy Dean's)
1 package Simply Potatoes (cubes)
4-5 eggs beaten (add a splash of milk to make a fluffier egg)
1/2 to 1 C of shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
In LARGE skillet, crumble and brown sausage. While sausage is cooking, prepare potatoes per package instructions in a separate pan. When sausage and potatoes are cooked, add potatoes to the sausage in the large skillet. Slowly add egg mixture and scramble it together with the sausage and potatoes. When its all done, serve into a bowl and sprinkle cheese on top. The heat from the skillet will melt the cheese. Eat it up...YUM!!!